Following the destruction of the second Death Star over Endor elements of the Empire began carrying out the Emperor's contingency orders upon his death. These orders included Operation Cinder which directly led to the Empire's crushing defeat over Jakku and the formation of the New Republic. Part of these orders included specific commands to the commanding officers of the Imperial Navy's Executor-class Star Dreadnoughts, detailing various plans and operations to be undertaken by them and their supporting fleets. The New Republic was able to thwart most of these plans, destroying five Dreadnoughts and capturing three in the months after Endor, and they believed that only one, the Ravager, remained in Imperial control just prior to the battle of Jakku.

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Following the destruction of the second Death Star and the death of the Emperor over Endor elements of the Empire began carrying out the Emperor's Contingency orders. These orders included Operation Cinder, which directly led to the Empire's crushing defeat over Jakku and the formation of the New Republic. Additionally, they included specific commands to the navy's remaining Executor-class Star Dreadnoughts, detailing various plans and operations to be undertaken by them and their supporting fleets. The New Republic was able to thwart most of these plans, destroying five Dreadnoughts and capturing three in the months after Endor, and they believed that only one, the Ravager, remained in Imperial control just prior to the battle of Jakku.

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When the Ravager was destroyed over Jakku, the Republic believed that all of these massive warships had been accounted for, either destroyed or safely in their hands. Unfortunately, they were mistaken, and two Dreadnoughts remained in control of Imperial forces. The first was the Eclipse herself, the command ship of the late Emperor Palpatine, which would be discovered in the Unknown Regions by Grand Admiral Rae Sloane and would become the basis of the First Order. The second was the Titan whose construction was completed at Fondor shipyards shortly after the Battle of Endor. As part of the Contingency, Vice Admiral Ardus Khoda oversaw the launching of the Dreadnought and the wiping of its existence from Imperial archives to prevent it from being discovered by the Republic. With a handful of Capital ships, escaped to the Kathol sector to carry out the final orders of the late Emperor.

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When the Ravager was destroyed over Jakku, the Republic thought that all of these massive warships had been, either destroyed or was safely in their hands. Unfortunately, they were mistaken, and two Dreadnoughts remained in control of Imperial forces. The first was the Eclipse, the command ship of the late Emperor Palpatine, which would be discovered in the Unknown Regions by Grand Admiral Rae Sloane and would become the basis of the First Order. The second was the Titan whose construction was completed at Fondor shipyards shortly after the Battle of Endor. As part of the Contingency, Vice Admiral Ardus Khoda oversaw the launching of the Dreadnought and the wiping of its existence from Imperial archives to prevent it from being discovered by the Republic. With a handful of Capital ships, escaped to the Kathol sector to carry out the final orders of the late Emperor.

While most commanders were given orders to enact immediately upon receipt, Vice Admiral Khoda was provided with a more long term plan which included the capture of the Kathol sector and the build-up of forces in his command. To destabilize the galaxy, Vice Admiral Khoda was given the task of destroying the Rimma Trade Route, the lifeline for the entire southern quadrant of the galaxy. Over the course of the next ten years, Vice Admiral Khoda worked to secure the Kathol sector, recruit a new army, and construct a massive naval force centered around the Titan. Re-branding himself as a 'Grand Admiral', in late 14 ABY he and his fleet began a massive invasion of the New Republic's holdings along the Rimma Trade Route, striking out from Kal'Shebbol.

While most commanders were given orders to enact immediately upon receipt, Vice Admiral Khoda was provided with a more long term plan which included the capture of the Kathol sector and the build-up of forces in his command. To destabilize the galaxy, Vice Admiral Khoda was given the task of destroying the Rimma Trade Route, the lifeline for the entire southern quadrant of the galaxy. Over the course of the next ten years, Vice Admiral Khoda worked to secure the Kathol sector, recruit a new army, and construct a massive naval force centered around the Titan. Re-branding himself as a 'Grand Admiral', in late 14 ABY he and his fleet began a massive invasion of the New Republic's holdings along the Rimma Trade Route, striking out from Kal'Shebbol.

Revision as of 06:49, 20 December 2017

This page is a work in progress, and will eventually hold information about the current primary RS Storyline. More detailed information will be contained held in tour and mission pages (or the equivalent for the ABG).

All members of the Rebel Squadrons are encouraged to contribute any information that they have regarding past RS tours, whether it be ABG sim logs, PBF/R2F/RgF/IBG official mission narratives from the COs, etc. so that this page can be pieced together as fully and accurately as possible.

Information provided for use in RS backstory can either be added to this page or added as a separate page which is linked to from here. Formatting is not a concern, for as the project progresses, those with greater wiki ability will unify the formatting to make everything work cohesively.

Contents

Background of the Conflict

Following the destruction of the second Death Star and the death of the Emperor over Endor elements of the Empire began carrying out the Emperor's Contingency orders. These orders included Operation Cinder, which directly led to the Empire's crushing defeat over Jakku and the formation of the New Republic. Additionally, they included specific commands to the navy's remaining Executor-class Star Dreadnoughts, detailing various plans and operations to be undertaken by them and their supporting fleets. The New Republic was able to thwart most of these plans, destroying five Dreadnoughts and capturing three in the months after Endor, and they believed that only one, the Ravager, remained in Imperial control just prior to the battle of Jakku.

When the Ravager was destroyed over Jakku, the Republic thought that all of these massive warships had been, either destroyed or was safely in their hands. Unfortunately, they were mistaken, and two Dreadnoughts remained in control of Imperial forces. The first was the Eclipse, the command ship of the late Emperor Palpatine, which would be discovered in the Unknown Regions by Grand Admiral Rae Sloane and would become the basis of the First Order. The second was the Titan whose construction was completed at Fondor shipyards shortly after the Battle of Endor. As part of the Contingency, Vice Admiral Ardus Khoda oversaw the launching of the Dreadnought and the wiping of its existence from Imperial archives to prevent it from being discovered by the Republic. With a handful of Capital ships, escaped to the Kathol sector to carry out the final orders of the late Emperor.

While most commanders were given orders to enact immediately upon receipt, Vice Admiral Khoda was provided with a more long term plan which included the capture of the Kathol sector and the build-up of forces in his command. To destabilize the galaxy, Vice Admiral Khoda was given the task of destroying the Rimma Trade Route, the lifeline for the entire southern quadrant of the galaxy. Over the course of the next ten years, Vice Admiral Khoda worked to secure the Kathol sector, recruit a new army, and construct a massive naval force centered around the Titan. Re-branding himself as a 'Grand Admiral', in late 14 ABY he and his fleet began a massive invasion of the New Republic's holdings along the Rimma Trade Route, striking out from Kal'Shebbol.

The Opening Salvos

Several months before the primary fleet invasion began, Imperial forces began probing the New Republic's defenses in the adjoining sectors by purchasing the services of privateer forces and utilizing long range TIE Scouts. They encountered Task Force Republic Shield, a specialized group created by Admiral Ackbar shortly after the Battle of Endor to protect the New Republic's southern borders, and specifically safeguard the critical Rimma Trade Route. Due to the overall New Republic's strategy of disarmament after Jakku, the Republic forces in the area were limited to a small cadre of capital ships including the Redemption, Windstorm, and Prometheus II, a large starfighter corps, and a significant battery of static and planetary defensive installations which could keep even his dreadnought at bay. Needing some way to circumvent the dug in Republic Forces, Grand Admiral Khoda ordered the fleet's intelligence division to discover some way around the Republic defenses in the area.

Several Commando squads were dispatched covertly across Republic Shield's holdings to gather additional information and try to find a way to bypass both Republic sensor nets and defenses protecting the primary hyper routes into their space. One of the installations that the commandos managed to infiltrate was a station belonging to 'Division 3', a branch of New Republic Intelligence focused on internal security and the longevity of the New Republic. Division 3 used sleeper agents and conditioning to keep tabs on the Republic's compartmentalized and disarmed military to ensure that individual task forces couldn't compromise the integrity of the New Republic's much smaller navy. The commando squad discovered that a high ranking member of Republic Shield's High Command, Nicolai Ginofev, their Operations Officer, was an unwilling agent of Division 3. Discovering both his 'activation' code phrase, and information behind his conditioning, the Imperials used Nicolai without his knowledge to obtain detailed information on Republic Shield static defenses and normal contingency plans in the event of an assault.

Armed with this information, the Grand Admiral began a massive assault of Republic Shield holdings across both their southern and eastern flanks, focusing on occupying the small Republic fleet and their fighter corps, while striking deeply into the Aurora sector to secure as much space and infrastructure as possible. One of their first targets was the arctic world of Lithra, located deep in the Aurora sector close to its easternmost border. A world that was still occupied by the Imperial Remnant even ten years after the Battle of Endor, Titan's forces quickly ousted the occupiers and took control of both the world and its massive array of orbital shipyards to bolster their lines and allow for the quick replacement of lost vessels. Within weeks, the Titan fleet had secured nearly half of the Aurora sector, and was threatening an invasion of Bethlamore, the lynch pin of the Republic's defenses along the Rimma Trade Route, and the home base of the Allegiance Battle Group. Reeling from the swift and overwhelming force of the Imperial invasion, Republic Shield made a desperate plea to the New Republic Armed forces, while their fighter corps just barely managed to stave off the Imperial invasion by striking at supply lines to slow the inexorable advance of the Titan herself.

The Republic Responds

Understanding the threat poised by an Executor-class Star Dreadnought, the New Republic dispatched the vast majority of their existing capital ships to the aid of Republic Shield, dramatically bolstering their ranks and allowing the defending forces critical time to regroup. The support was timely, as the Imperial forces commenced an invasion of Aurora, the capital of the similarly named Aurora sector. Reinforced by over a hundred capital ships from the Republic, along with supporting fleets from the Allegiance Battle Group and their allies, Republic Shield was able meet Titan head on. While both sides sustained heavy losses in the attack, Titan was forced for the first time to retreat without capturing their prize. Unfortunately, the victory was short lived, as Republic forces learned of Grand Admiral Khoda's plan to launch an almost immediate follow-up attack, this one spearheaded by the Titan herself.

The Republic forces, under the command of Vice Admiral Kirghy Lommax, retreated from Aurora, dismantling and packing up as much of the planet's critical infrastructure as possible to prevent it from falling into Khoda's hands. Vice Admiral Lommax ordered the incoming hyper routes into the system heavily mined, knowing that while it would slow down any attempt to retake the system later, it would buy them time. Titan forces would sustain even more losses running the minefield, and eventually captured the Aurora system several days after their initial attack, but found it stripped of nearly all critical installations and orbital facilities due to the Vice Admiral's defensive strategy. A pyrrhic victory for Khoda's forces, they none-the-less captured the capitol world of the sector and were able to begin using it as a staging ground for strikes deeper into Republic Shield territories.

Working behind the scenes, Director Hawkins; commander of the Republic Shield's intelligence division, had discovered the overall strategy of the Imperial forces revolved around the Republic's own Military Disarmament Act which even during times of conflict severely restricted the construction and deployment of capital ships. While Republic Shield was unable to quickly and efficiently replace their damaged or lost starships, Titan was depending on using overwhelming force and the shipyards both in the Kathol sector and Lithra to replenish any losses to the superior pilots of the Republic. As such, Director Hawkins presented a plan to Republic Shield High Command to retake Lithra and swing the tide of the war back into their favor. Knowing that forces under the Allegiance Battle Group had been supporting a resistance on Lithra to eventually retake the planet, Director Hawkins' plan convinced High Command to dedicate the majority of their reinforced fleet to a massive invasion of what had become a Titan stronghold. He knew it was a hearty gamble, but a necessary one as success would eliminate around fifty percent of Titan's shipyard capacity, while failure would likely end the war in the invader's favor.

The Battle of Lithra

The arctic, colonized world of Lithra lies on the easternmost border of the Aurora sector, and has been a contested territory for several decades. Initially captured by the Empire around 15 BBY, the world had been built into an Imperial stronghold, with the populace slowly subverted over the years to be loyal to the Empire. After Endor, the world remained a lone Imperial bastion with a planetary defense array too strong to be cracked, and yet no real importance to the galaxy at large to warrant attention beyond small resistance groups dedicated to overthrowing the occupiers. After Titan took the planet, the world was thrown into the forefront of the brewing conflict as a massive shipyard complex in orbit was used to churn out both capital ships and starfighters for the invaders.

Supported and led by Eric Skrevski, a decedent of the ruling class of the planet prior to its occupation, The Lithran Resistance coalesced from the fledgling guerrilla and resistance groups spread around the planet to become a solidified front against Khoda's forces. Locally, the Resistance was commanded by a small council of guerrilla fighters who had been fighting against the Empire for many decades, and with additional financial and equipment support from the Allegiance Battle Group, began performing much more direct attacks against Titan forces on the ground in order to weaken their defenses for a potential assault. Unfortunately, these actions had the effect of driving the population further toward their occupiers, as they were seen as terrorist actions instead of any sort of reasonable resistance. In one such act, The Lithran Resistance bombed a dam, destroying a major Imperial Garrison and several batteries of planetary defense guns, only to also flood a small city which directly resulted in the deaths of approximately 30,000 civilians.

Realizing that the battle for Lithra would need both political and military support, Eric Skrevski and the rest of the Allegiance Battle Group stepped up to reign in both The Lithran Resistance and support the populace to swing public opinion in their favor. Military action gave way to propaganda, political, and humanitarian missions, while specialized Republic Shield commandos were covertly inserted onto the planet to begin the systematic sabotage of military assets, while The Lithran Resistance was reduced to a harassing force and sidelined until the actual invasion begun. Republic Shield Commandos managed to sabotage dozens of planetary guns along with targeting arrays and sensor nets to prevent their fire from accurately targeting allied capital ships, while Allegiance Battle Group commandos organized assaults against support fleets and supply convoys to slowly starve the occupiers. With support from Task Force Republic Shield, the Allegiance Battle Group, and dozens of allied ships, the invasion began with a massive space battle to break Titan's hold.

Commanded by the Modified Praetor II-class Battlecruiser Desolator, the Imperial defense force consisted of several hundred vessels of various sizes, backed up by a blistering array of planetary batteries, defense stations, and starfighters. Conversely, the Republic fleet was smaller, but was much more well equipped, supplied, and had the advantage of having disabled both the majority of the planetary guns and had sabotaged the abilities of the Imperial forces to efficiently coordinate their defensive efforts. While Republic command ships including the Redemption, Almacia, Seraphim, and Defiance engaged the Desolator, Republic starfighters and lesser capital ships fought valiantly to breach the defender's fighter lines and strike at their supporting capital ships. Meanwhile, elite special forces were inserted onto the Desolator to sabotage both weapon and shield grids to support their assault on the defense force's command ship. The Desolator destroyed several squadron command ships including the Almacia, Seraphim, and Defiance though they caused severe damage to the much larger vessel's turbolaser batteries which allowed the Redemption to maneuver into an attack position against the battlecruiser. The flagship of the Republic Shield scored the killing blow against the vessels after the boarding parties managed to disable her reactor shielding and the defenses surrounding the core; allowing the Redemption to destroy its power grid.

With the command and control center of the Imperial defenders broken, the Republic forces managed to isolate and destroy pockets of resistance while sustaining manageable losses. Securing the space around Lithra took several days before a concentrated ground assault broke the back of the Imperial defenders and the planet, after decades of occupation, was finally liberated. The battle ended in a decisive if costly victory for Republic Shield.

The Hunt for the Titan

Expanding unchecked with easy victories over prior opponents, Task Force Republic shield was responsible for the control and oversight of five sectors, and yet only had the forces to adequately cover three. Even with several major victories against Grand Admiral Khoda's forces, the overwhelming numbers that the Republic was faced with forced them to make several difficult decisions and strategically withdraw from several areas including the complete abandonment of the Cadrel Expanse and Minos Cluster. Consolidating down to what they could defend, Republic Shield began to hunker down and score increasingly frequent victories against their invaders. With the conflict being reduced to a stalemate that was slowly draining supplies on both sides, Republic Shield High Command quickly realized that to break the invasion, they would have to destroy the Dreadnought Titan herself.

In order to assault the Dreadnought, Republic Shield's plan was to cripple its ability to wage war by destroying both its supply network and the vessels that made up its guard fleet before taking it on directly. However, the enemy command ship had eluded Republic Shield intelligence for months, striking deep into their space only to retreat into the safety of the Kathol sector after destroying assets and defenses. Redoubling their efforts, Director Hawkins dispatched several individual Republic Shield heroes to strike at Imperial communication arrays and supply stations to try to find information on their command ship.

Few succeeded, but those who did brought back volumes of information on both the Titan's movements and the overall strategy of the Imperial fleet, including information about their compromised operations officer. Quickly acting on this information, Director Hawkins ordered Nicolai into treatment, eliminating the link between Grand Admiral Khoda and the inner workings of Republic Shield's operations and defenses. Additionally, the location of the Titan's primary supply depot, an enormous deep space station, was uncovered and provided to the Allegiance Battle Group. Dispatching their vaunted Sentinel Company along with several high ranking members of the battle group to infiltrate the station, they managed to extract information detailing the Titan's supply and support routes.